There were days when Greco-Roman wrestling champ Rulon Gardner seemed like a modern day superhero; or at least something akin to Bruce Willis’ character from ‘Unbreakable.’

His feat of famously beating Aleksandr Karelin – a Russian who hadn’t lost in 13 years or given up a point in six years – to win gold in Sydney seems downright small when you consider that he survived a snowmobile accident and a night stranded in the wilderness, a terrible motorcycle accident, and even a plane crash that caused him and his friends to swim to safety and bear a night wet and without shelter in the Utah cold.

But for all his struggles against wrestlers, weight, and the wilderness, the famed Gardner has been unable to capitalize on his publicity. Gardner filed for bankruptcy last month after somehow piling up nearly $3 million in debt on a household income of only $37,932, according to the Associated Press.

“I got taken advantage of, and now I’ve got to pay the price,” Gardner said. “I’m trying to make it right.”

Gardner has made some poor business decisions, but says he’s the victim of investment fraud. He’ll offer his story in a deposition scheduled for Oct. 10. Then in November he’ll auction off his most valuable belongings, including a Porsche, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, some knives, watches, autographs and memorabilia.

We can’t imagine these items will chase any more than face value, though. His appearances on NBC’s ‘The Biggest Loser’ and his nearly successful attempt at a comeback at the 2012 Olympic Trials seem like his way of trying to recapture success by using his one proven talent, wrestling, which has of course declined since his first retirement in 2004.

Unfortunately for Gardner, he’s no longer a superhero. We’ve seen him break, and for as much pride as his victory and subsequent cartwheel brought Americans in 2000, the novelty of his celebrity wore off a long time ago. At least we’ll always have Sydney.

More: Figure Skating

Russian Yevgenia Medvedeva broke the record for highest women’s short program score at the Grand Prix Final on Friday.

Medvedeva, who hasn’t lost in more than one year, totaled 79.21 points in Marseille, France. That beat Mao Asada‘s 78.66 from the 2014 World Championships, the previous record under a decade-old judging system.

“I knew approximately about the record,” Medvedeva said through a translator. “For me, it’s one step further.”

Medvedeva leads Canadian Kaetlyn Osmond by 3.67 points going into Saturday’s free skate. No U.S. woman qualified for the six-skater Grand Prix Final for the first time since 2008.

She already holds the free skate world record and can break Yuna Kim‘s record for total score with a solid effort Saturday in Marseille. Medvedeva said she can perform better than she did Friday, specifically with her program interpretation and spins.

“I always strive for perfection,” she said through a translator. “When you stop doing that, you will stop progress.”

The Grand Prix Final concludes with the women’s and men’s free skates and free dance Saturday (schedule here). NBCSN will air coverage Sunday from 8:30-11 p.m. ET.

Earlier Friday, Russians Yevgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov held onto their short-program lead to win the pairs event by 7.14 points over China’s Yu Xiaoyu and Zhang Hao.

Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, the two-time world champions and pre-event favorites, struggled in the short program and free skate and lost for just the second time in the last three seasons.

In the short dance, Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir recorded the highest score of all time, an 80.50, to take a 2.53-point lead into Saturday’s free dance.

That Virtue and Moir lead is no surprise — they were the top couple in the fall Grand Prix season — but their closest challenger is a surprise.

It is not two-time world champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France, but instead Americans Maia and Alex Shibutani, who totaled a personal-best short dance.

More: Figure Skating

Gracie Gold struggled in all four of her competitions this fall, capped by her lowest total score in four years at a Croatian event this week, putting her under scrutiny for the U.S. Championships in six weeks.

She singled three jumps and fell twice across two programs at Golden Spin in Zagreb, Croatia, on Thursday and Friday.

Gold totaled 159.02 points for sixth place, her first time below 160 points since 2012 Skate Canada in her first season as a senior skater.

Italian Carolina Kostner, the 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, won with 196.23 points in her first full competition since the 2014 World Championships.

Earlier this fall, Gold finished last of six skaters in the free skate-only Japan Open on Oct. 1, fifth at Skate America in October and eighth at Trophée de France in November.

Gold has spoken openly about trying to mentally and physically recover from last season’s world championships, where she dropped from first after the short program to finish fourth, and taking weeks off from training in the summer offseason.

Even with the rough skates, Gold still ranks fourth among U.S. women in top scores this season, behind Ashley Wagner, Mariah Bell and Mirai Nagasu.

She could struggle — to a degree — at the U.S. Championships in January and still make the three-woman world championships team. Gold has finished first or second at all four of her senior nationals appearances.